


A love letter long overdue

by baeconandeggs, Leelia



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, Romance, Slice of Life, love letter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:21:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24155011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leelia/pseuds/Leelia
Summary: Chanyeol works at a radio station where he has his own evening program. On there, he has a special section where he reads love letters that were submitted by his listeners. However, one day he gets a love letter that is addressed to himself.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai
Comments: 53
Kudos: 410
Collections: BAE2020





	A love letter long overdue

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** BAE244  
>  **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
> 
> **Author's Note:** Just a short little entry, I didn't fully know where to go with this but I hope you guys will enjoy it anyway :)

The traffic light was on red, when Chanyeols own voice came through the radio. It was 8 o’clock already then. That’s when his famous music show started. 8 to 9, monday through friday. He felt a confident smirk creep up on his face. A little vanity can’t harm anyone, he would always say. He had a nice voice, and it was a big part of making his living. Jongdae next to him just groaned though. “You listen to yourself on the radio, really?”, he said, as Chanyeol on the radio introduced that day’s music program. “Come on, change it, I gotta listen to that every single day already.” Chanyeol was ready to throw something back at Jongdae, but he let it go, because he knew Jongdaes whining was never to be taken that seriously. Jongdae was his best friend after all. His fault that he worked together with Chanyeol at their local radio station. Not that his own show was very local anymore. In the last few years, people from the whole country had started tuning in. Which Chanyeol was very proud of. Jongdae was too, Chanyeol knew that.

He stepped on the gas hard, when the light turned green. He had had dinner with Jongdae that day, but it had gotten a little late already. Not for Chanyeol. Chanyeol was a guy who could work late into the night, be it making his own music, or discover new music he could share during his music program on the radio. No, it was late for Jongdae. He was a dad now, after all. He was the first in the friend circle to start a family, and while they all joked about it, they could never hide their pride. Chanyeol managed to drop Jongdae off at his house at 8.10, and really hoped, that he would be in time to say goodnight to the kid. He only let him go after demanding a bear hug for himself though. He was just a big baby too after all, and not ashamed in the slightest.

He still had a while to go after dropping his friend off, and his attention shifted to the radio. That day he had played swiss music, because he had started what he liked to call a _musical trip around the world._ It had allowed him to find and share music from all around the world. The tune of a hip-hop song faded out when he heard his voice on the radio starting to talk again. “We just heard Loredana sing about how her sunglasses protect her identity, and you know what, with the rate my radio show has gained popularity, I think I might soon have to invest in a pair too.” Chanyeol laughed at his little joke together with his voice that came out of his speakers. “From hip hop we go fifteen years back and straight to rock, here’s “heaven” by Gotthard. And”, here he had gotten closer to the microphone and had spoken in a lower and more mysterious voice “don’t you change stations, because after this song, we come to our favourite section of the whole week.”

The next song almost made Chanyeol take out his lighter to wave back and forth, and when it was done, radio Chanyeol announced the section “love letter on friday” in which he, surprise, read a love letter, written by listeners, out loud. One Friday, one confession, he liked to put it, and hopefully also one couple more to fill the world with love. “Today’s love letter is titled “what I want to do to you” and well if that doesn’t sound promising”, radio Chanyeol said and Chanyeol remembered that he had wiggled his eyebrows very hard, although the only person who could see it was Jongdae. “Maybe we will have to put careless whisper on after that” What followed was a display of Chanyeols sexiest voice spelling out some of the most mundane things that weren’t actually dirty, maybe one or two naughtier acts sprinkled in between walking dogs and baking cake together. He had had his fun though, as always.

After radio Chanyeol had finished speaking, Chanyeol had arrived at his home. He was greeted by Kyungsoo, his other best friend in the kitchen with a glass of red wine ready. “How’s the dilf doing?” he asked with a straight face. Chanyeol almost grimaced at the nickname Kyungsoo had given Jongade, but luckily, he had gotten used to Kyungsoos deadpan humour. “Fine”, he just replied, and followed it with a dramatized rendition of how he had heroically gotten Jongdae home on time.

Kyungsoo had put Chanyeols radio show on, and Chanyeol found it very endearing. They listened in silence until it ended.

When Chanyeol didn’t chose the music for his show or actually record it, he also had several other things he did at the radio station. During some projects he would narrate radio dramas. Sometimes he would help Jongin, another friend, with his evening program for kids. And next Monday, when he arrived at work, he was greeted by his head of department, Junmyeon, with an overenthusiastic smile and open arms. “I’m sick. Today you can do the classical music. We got a few new records that came in.” And with that, not even looking slightly sick, Junmyeon had stormed out of the building. Chanyeol liked doing the classical music though. It entailed sitting in a booth and listening to the recordings, while judging if they would sound good on radio. Busy for the morning, Chanyeol started his task. The afternoon would of course be taken up for his own program, as always.

The next Friday, Jongdae had a smug smile on his face. Somewhere in the morning it had started, and Chanyeol was really confused as to why. In the afternoon, they decided on the final song order, and when they got to the topic of the love letter section, Jongdaes smile got even more smug. “It’s a secret, today.” He said and would not tell Chanyeol any details about it all, save for that Jongdae had hand selected it. Which they often did, but most of the time it was a decision between the both. Sometimes finding a good letter was a lot of work, because many people wouldn’t read the rules and submit letters way too short, or letters that would take Chanyeol half the program to read out. Also, sometimes it would just be fan and/or love letters to Chanyeol, which was not something they wanted to read out on the show. Of course, sometimes Chanyeol would read those kind of letters in his free time, just to boost his ego a little.

Chanyeol was not too happy about Jongdaes decision, but at the same time, he trusted his best friend. They started recording in the middle of the afternoon, as they always did. None of the evening programs were actually live, so no, as a radio host Chanyeol didn’t work odd hours, he had a normal nine to five job. They did Italian music that day, and Chanyeol had his fun navigating through all the Eros Ramazotti and Laura Pausini, throwing some random ciao bella and other Italian phrases or words in here and there. He got a little nervous when the love letter section came closer.

When the previous song was over, he leaned into the microphone and started explaining, and he was not surprised that even his voice sounded so nervous: “So, today we’re in a little curious situation.” He paused for dramatic effect, but also to calm down. “As you all know, my friend whom you guys know as Chen, normally helps me choosing the songs for the program, and well, also the love letter for our next section. Just that today, he has been looking smug all the time, and he wouldn’t tell me anything about said letter.”

Jongdae, who was in the room, listening and helping with technical stuff, got to action then, pulled out a small folded piece of paper, and held it out for Chanyeol. Chanyeol cleared his throat, then took the letter and unfolded it slowly. It was just a few lines, must have almost scraped the minimum word count. Chanyeol started to read.

_I_ _loved you when we were sixteen_

_I loved you when we were young, when people called us dumb and dumber_

_When we did music together I_

_loved you when we went to college_

_When our majors were completely different, yet we didn’t let it stop us from spending time together_

_I loved you, always, I loved you much stronger than you ever knew_

_But we were just friends_

_I loved you, when we graduated and slowly drifted apart_

_I_ _never wanted that to happen_

_I love the memory of you I want to learn to love the you that you are now_

_And I regret never telling you: “_

_I’m in love with you, Park Chanyeol”_

Chanyeol couldn’t really believe what he was reading. He managed to keep his voice from shaking, as he read that last line, but the glances he sent Jongdae were deadly. Quickly, he pushed the buttons to let the next song play and muted his microphone. He managed even though his hands were shaking. Normally he would comment the letter, but he was in complete shock and totally speechless. There was only one person who could have written that letter. Baekhyun. Baekhyun who was his closest friend during high school and college. Baekhyun who had disappeared so suddenly. Baekhyun who he had fallen in love with so hard and fast, and who he thought might never return his feelings.

“You planned this?”, was the only thing he could get out, as he looked at Jongdae in shock. His friend just smiled at him apologetically. Chanyeol still had to finish recording that evenings show, so he tried to get himself together and play the letter down with a few jokes, telling the listeners that he was so shocked because he normally didn’t read love letters to himself.

Even after a few days, Chanyeol was still in some state of shock. In the meantime, he had requested a lot of cuddles from Kyungsoo, and a lot of confirmation from Jongdae. Yes, Baekhyun had indeed contacted him and asked him if he could get Chanyeol to read his letter. Yes, Jongade had his number. Also, yes, Jongdae was ready to punch Baekhyun in the face if things didn’t work out. Not that Chanyeol had asked him to, but it was nice to know that he had a protective friend.

Chanyeol was lying with his head in Kyungsoos lap, almost asleep. His calves were draped over Jongins lap, who kneaded them softly, probably not even realising what he was doing. Jongin was Kyungsoos boyfriend, and coincidentally had become Chanyeols co-worker a while afterwards. It had been quite a shock to suddenly see the young man he knew as the grumpy and sleepy guy that sometimes stood in his kitchen after spending the night with his flatmate at his workplace. But while Jongin had been shy at first, once he had gotten close to Chanyeol he had started touching him in ways that confused Chanyeol, like what he was doing now, but later he heard from Kyungsoo that Jongin did that with everyone.

They had been watching a movie, though the credits had stopped running a while ago. The only source of light now came from the kitchen where the light was still on. And from the glow in the dark stars that Kyungsoo had put on the ceiling when he was drunk, while telling Chaneol that they were there to give them happiness.

After a while, Jongin started speaking. “So, what kind of person was this Baekhyun?” And suddenly Baekhyun was all over his mind again. But he couldn’t blame Jongin for being curious. Up until now, Jongin might have heard from Baekhyun before, but Chanyeols friends didn’t talk about him often, even though they used to spend a lot of time with Baekhyun too. They did it for Chanyeol, as he had been hung up on Baekhyun for a while.

“He’s a fun guy.”, Kyungsoo said. “Though annoying.” Chanyeol laughed at Kyungsoos words, because he had always scolded Baekhyun for saying annoying or stupid things. But Kyungsoo had also been very fond of Baekhyun. At one time, Chanyeol had even be scared that those two might end up together. “He’s hot.”, he added to Kyungsoos short description. “And cute, and funny, and talented. Basically, mister perfect.” Surprised by his own words, he covered his mouth with his hand, before he could go on and spew even more nonsense.

“Yet he broke your heart?”, Jongin asked, but was corrected by denying sounds from both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. “I mean, not really. He just vanished, and they didn’t know about each other’s feelings.”, Kyungsoo explained. “Also”, he added, directed at Chanyeol, “he might not be that hot anymore. It’s been like five years, age might not have done him well, who knows.”

Chanyeol giggled at the thought, but he was pretty sure that that was not the case. Kyungsoo and Jongin continued talking about Baekhyun, Kyungsoo filling his boyfriend in on the whole timeline of Baekhyun and Chanyeols friendship, but Chanyeol was too sleepy to contribute anymore. His thoughts drifted off to Baekhyun, and after a while he realised that he really didn’t care how disappointed he had been, when he and Baekhyun had started to drift apart. It had not been Baekhyuns fault alone, after all. And in the end, he had loved Baekhyun too much back then, to not at least give him a chance by meeting up in the now. As Baekhyun had said in the letter: after all this time, things must have changed. They would have to get to know each other again. They would have to see if they could fall in love again. But Chanyeol was very willing to try.

After a while, he felt how Kyungsoo and Jongin were picking him up in a joint effort carrying him to his room and tucking him in. Luckily, he was already wearing his pyjamas. And if things with Baekhyun didn’t work out, he’d just continue thirdwheeling Kyungsoo and Jongin, and get pampered by those two, he thought, right before he finally fell asleep.

The next day, Chanyeol gave Jongdae the ok to give his phone number to Baekhyun. And then he waited anxiously. Reconciling with Baekhyun sounded kind of scary. Though sometimes Chanyeol had to punch himself mentally when his thoughts got a little too depressive. After all, talking to Baekhyun had always been so easy. When they first met, they had hit it off in seconds. They had had night long gaming sessions, deep conversations both in person and through text. They had done a lot of shit together. They had written music together, as Baekhyun had mentioned in his letter.

Chanyeol had brought Baekhyuns letter home with him. Although, he had let it lie on his desk at work for a few days. He hadn’t touched it that time, as if it would explode on contact. Then, after a few days, Kyungsoo had urged him to take it home, because he had wanted to read it himself. Chanyeol had been reluctant, but then they had started to interpret the text line by line. It was kinda cheesy, Chanyeol thought now. But once the letter was on his desk at home, he hadn’t been able to stop reading it repeatedly.

Baekhyun had even drawn a few little hearts, which Chanyeol was stroking with his thumb now, as he lay on his back, holding the letter up. Then his phone vibrated next to his head where he had thrown it after sending Jongdae his message. He was so shocked he let the letter fall straight on his face. At least it was just a piece of paper, he thought, as he picked the letter up, folding it slowly, trying to stall checking his phone. When he finally picked it up, he saw that he had got a message from an unknown number.

It was just a _hi it’s Baekhyun, how are you?_ It sounded almost shy. Chanyeol needed a few minutes to collect himself before he could answer. He unlocked his phone to look at the message again. And had to put it away again. He read the letter two times before he answered with a very simple text.

But even though both seemed to text cautiously at first, Baekhyun made sure to make Chanyeol feel comfortable. They made mostly small talk, the bigger, more important stuff would have to be in person. Chanyeol would for sure need more than just text to explain all his work for the radio station. Although, Baekhyun might already know some things about that.

An hour later, Chanyeol was still lying on his bed on his back, but with a huge smile on his face. Talking to Baekhyun really was as easy as it always used to be. Some things were different of course, but they could still connect over old friends and music they listened back then. They also both still had their pet dogs. They even were still friends on facebook, but of course Baekhyun had to go the complicated route. All that effort actually kind of flattered Chanyeol. Maybe five years was not that much time after all and Baekhyun had just been overdramatic, when he had said that they needed to fall in love again.

He was just busy smiling at the screen that had turned black, when his phone vibrated, signalling another message from Baekhyun. This time it was the phone that fell on his face. It kind of hurt. The pain however disappeared completely once he read Baekhyuns new message. Because this time he asked if he would like to meet up.

“I’m going to die”, Chanyeol kept repeating when he got ready for the date a few days later. Well, they hadn’t called it a date. But Baekhyun had literally sent him a love letter.

“I’m going to die, I mean it”, Chanyeol repeated. He was also in the process of shaking Kyungsoos shoulders violently.

“You’re not”, his friend answered with an eye roll. Then he got a tap on the butt. “Or maybe those pants will cut of your blood circulation. You might not die but your legs might fall off”, Kyungsoo reminded him. Well, Chanyeol might have worn his tightest jeans. While deep down he knew that everything would be fine, it couldn’t keep him from panicking. Also, he did want to look good for Baekhyun. Like many people, Baekhyun too had made fun of Chanyeols apparently non existing ass in the past, but he could prove him wrong now. The fact that Chanyeol had started working out was one of the changes he made after he had lost contact. Maybe now he could impress Baekhuyn with that.

After a few more minutes of Chanyeols panicking, he was ready to leave. Kyungsoo went downstairs with him, pulled him down to his level and kissed him on his forehead. “Everything’s gonna be alright, son”, he said in a comical voice, pat him on the back and shooed him away. Chanyeol just sent him a grimace. He would decide later, if he should be weirded out or not, but at the moment he was preoccupied by his nerves.

On the bus, he got a message on his phone by Jongdae, telling him to go get himself that boyfriend. Chanyeol really had the best friends, he thought, touched.

Baekhyun was visible, even before Chanyeol left the bus. They had agreed on meeting at a café, but apparently Baekhyun had somehow deduced that Chanyeol would arrive by bus. Baekhyun looked great. As soon as he saw Chanyeol, he was beaming in his direction, and Chanyeol couldn’t help but smiling himself as well. All those nerves had disappeared already. It was good to see Baekhyun. So good. And now he was actually standing there. Chanyeol would just have to go over and say hi. It was hard to believe.

And then he alighted. Then a few steps. And he stood right in front of Baekhyun. He managed a “hi”.

And Baekhyun was just looking at him, smiling warmly, greeting him back. Asking if he had a good trip. How his day had been so far. And Chanyeol got filled by an immense happiness. He knew right away that Kyungsoo had been right. Everything was going to be alright. No, everything was going to be perfect.

His body moved on his own, surprising himself, and most of all Baekhyun, by enclosing him in his best and biggest bear hug. But then Baekhyun laughed, hugged him back and pulled him even closer.

Chanyeol didn’t want to but eventually he let go. “What was that for?”, Baekhyun asked almost teasingly, but without waiting for an answer, he took Chanyeols hand, starting to lead him to the café. Yes, everything was going to be perfect.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find my twitter [here](https://twitter.com/NLeeLia). It's also where you can try to convince me to write a sequel hehe


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